Where Have I Been? ...and Music Stuff

Hiding dog. — Troubled Times in Times of Trouble

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been? I admit I have been absent. I have been beside myself in these fast-moving, chaotic times that have been thrust upon us. I have neglected music and the community due to the lack of passion, motivation, and inspiration ignited by the aforementioned points of order. I hope you will forgive me for briefly sharing my current state, and then I will take steps at the end of this blog to reignite my musical engagement in the coming days.

I write this blog while mildly dulling the outside world with my beer of choice...

Voodoo Ranger - Voluntary Product Placement

I write this blog while climbing out of a rabbit hole of despair of "what's the point?".

It's too easy to go down this road these days. It's not necessarily unjustified, but it is scary easy, which is a problem for all of us. I hope you can manage the national and global changes well. I sincerely hope we all get through this tough time as best as possible. I greatly hope that at the end of this troublesome chapter, we find a way to come out of it together.

I want us all to move forward together, with our chosen personal outlet, our family, friends, and loved ones. As tough as it seems to be sometimes, I am hopeful for the future beyond this low point.

I found a sparkle of that hope in a recent social engagement about current items in the news. There was a handful of us in the conversation, and it appeared that political affiliation may have been close to 50/50, but none had announced that which was part of the hope. No one announced a sworn and unmoving position, there was no name-calling or cursing epitaphs, and there was no hate. There was only a conversation, which included hearing differing opinions on the topic at hand. I am grateful for that moment.

I hope for more of this as we traverse the rapids in the serpentine river we find ourselves on at this time. I hope that everyone in the raft is there to ensure we all get through this together. This raft will get bigger for those who do, and I hope it is always at capacity at the end of this life chapter.

Now that I have that out in the ether, let me share some things I had been planning to share, but got delayed due to the emotional sidebar I am climbing out of today.

My Home Studio

Darren Lee Richardson - Home Studio — Darren Lee Richardson's Studio Corner

I have a home studio. Anything tangible that I have created in the last twenty-plus years, solo or collaborative, has been created, in part or in full, in this studio. I built a soundproof room inside my two-car garage and pretty much live in here when not working or doing family stuff. It has changed over the years, but the picture above is my current configuration. This is part of my newest gear and my greenscreen wall. My last two albums were created in this little corner. Not shown is my post-production desk where I mix and master my musical efforts.

Home Studio Desk - Green Screen Wall — Studio Desk - Green Screen Wall

Setting Up My Sound Booth

So, I've been delving into sharing my musical processes for a while. I recorded these videos about my studio configuration and how I put together my portable sound booth for varying reasons. I think these came out ok, but they certainly need more thought and consideration going forward. Hope you find them useful and will want to come back for more in the future.

A Quick Studio Corner Tour

A Studio Synapsis

Pretext For The Sound Booth

Do I Need To Explain This?

The Sound Booth Building Begins

A Step In The Right Direction

The Sound Booth Tour

The Anatomy of a Sound Booth

The Signoff

They Say You Should Do This

This process is working well for me right now. My recordings are cleaner than ever before. Now if I can get my presentation better, perhaps more people will come to my site and join in. I'm always a work-in-progress. Please subscribe and follow me on my website and you can see the growth in real time. And thanks for letting me share my struggles. This BLOG probably could have been two, but I wanted it to be like climbing out of the hole and then pressing on. We all go through ups and downs and it is good to be able to share that so we know we are not alone on this crazy planet.

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